#Yularen's nods are also very badly timed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bedlamsbard · 7 years

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A batch of scenes from the runaway AU -- I wrote these over a week ago, but knew I was going to post Backbone 24 before I went to Orlando and didn’t want to post these either right before or right after that. I’ve got one more scene from that AU written, but I’m going to sit on that for a bit and see if anything else from that ‘verse shakes out, since it’s chronologically separate from these scenes. Also, as @syphrosine and I figured out when we were talking about this on Sunday, I really gotta stop nicknaming concept AUs names that start with “R”; I’ve got three and I can’t tell them apart.

Previous scenes. (As well as the AU of the AU, where they get caught.)

About 2.7K below the break.

Roberto Beneke arrived in Colonel Yularen’s office still blinking sleep from his eyes, but fortunately he had been in his rooms in the Imperial Complex rather than his apartment in the city, and it took him less than ten minutes to get from his bed to the ISB building.

He was expecting Yularen and maybe Ailsa Palak, the director of the ISB, maybe even some of the other Nemesis handlers. As a result, it was a surprise to open the door and find an Inquisitor standing there.

The Pau’an was being regarded warily by Colonel Yularen, possibly because of the scorch marks and dried blood on its armor, though more likely it had to do with the air of menace it wore like a cloak. It was strong enough that Roberto faltered for a moment, then he reminded himself that he wasn’t going to be frightened by some attack dog of the Emperor’s that was hardly capable of thinking for itself.

“Colonel Yularen,” he said. “You sent for me?”

“I apologize for the hour,” Yularen said. “Unfortunately, this concerns your protégé.”

“Hera Syndulla?” Roberto couldn’t help glancing around the room again, as though Hera might have been hiding behind Colonel Yularen’s desk.

Yularen nodded. “Were you aware that she’s been carrying on a relationship with a civilian boy outside the Imperial Complex for some time now?”

“That’s hardly against regulations,” Roberto said, though in truth this was news to him. And just because it wasn’t against regs didn’t mean it was acceptable behavior. Frowning, he said, “I assume that this mysterious being has something to do with the presence of the Inquisitor here.”

He blinked at the sudden pressure of the Pau’an’s attention, taking an involuntary step back.

“Indeed it does,” the Inquisitor said. “If you were not aware of Cadet Syndulla’s affair, then you were not aware that her paramour is a Jedi Padawan.”

Roberto blinked again. “The Jedi are all dead.”

“A few escaped the Emperor’s justice. Most have since been destroyed.”

“Not including this boy, I suppose?” Roberto said. That had to be the reason that there was an Inquisitor here in the middle of the night, when the rest of the Imperial Complex was sleeping. It was generally considered a courtesy for one branch of the service to inform whoever was in charge of the local base when they were operating in the same system. If they wanted to use local support – and as far as Roberto knew, the Inquisition had no stormtroopers assigned to its use – then it was required.

The Inquisitor’s lip curled slightly, revealing sharp teeth.

His tone neutral, Colonel Yularen said, “An hour ago, the Inquisitor took a squadron to ambush the boy Jarrus during his rendezvous with Cadet Syndulla. Both Syndulla and Jarrus escaped, though apparently not without injury.” He shot a sharp look at the Inquisitor, who regarded him grimly in return.

Roberto blinked. “Escaped.”

“There are stormtroopers searching the streets for them now,” Yularen went on. “Jarrus was badly injured and would not have been able to go far. Syndulla must have found somewhere to go to ground.” He looked at Roberto, his eyes narrowing. “I was under the impression that the girl had given had given up any knowledge of her father’s offworld contacts.”

“Hera Syndulla knows nothing about her father’s organization,” Roberto said. “She was interrogated at length on the subject on numerous occasions.” He regarded Yularen grimly. “You think she lied?”

“I think we have to consider the possibility. It’s no secret that there are rebel sympathizers on Naboo. If Syndulla has some way of getting in contact with them, then we may have lost both her and the Jarrus boy.” Yularen’s expression was grim. “Cadet Syndulla is of considerable value to the Empire. Assuming she’s gone to ground somewhere in Theed, it may still be possible to salvage this.”

“How do you intend to do that, sir?” Roberto said.

Yularen shot a glare at the Inquisitor. “The ISB had no knowledge of this operation until about five minutes before I called you in.”

Roberto shook his head. “Syndulla will never believe that.” He couldn’t help glaring at the Inquisitor himself; years spent gaining the girl’s trust, making her really believe in the Empire, and after all that the Inquisition had destroyed it in less than an hour.

“I’m certain that you are capable of convincing her,” Colonel Yularen said. “Once you find her, assuming that she hasn’t left the planet already.” His mouth tightened. “And you had better find her, Roberto.”

“Yes, sir,” Roberto said, wondering how in blazes he was supposed to do that. He had been keeping an eye on Hera, of course, and had known that she had been leaving the Imperial Complex since her code cylinder had registered on the door sensors, but hadn’t had any idea that she had been going any further than the market or the tapcafs near the Complex. If she had managed to slip her leash to run around Theed with this Jedi boy for some months now, then she could have found any number of places to hole up in.

“I will accompany you,” said the Inquisitor.

Roberto frowned. “That will not be –”

“The Jedi belongs to me.” The Pau’an’s tone brooked no argument.

Roberto glanced at Yularen, hoping for backup, but Yularen’s expression said that they couldn’t fight the Inquisition, not when it came to a Jedi.

“Very well,” Roberto said.

Hera and Alecto were both curled up asleep on Alecto’s bed when Cham slipped away, pausing to look back at them. He hadn’t wanted to give up hope that he would ever see Hera again, but it had been four years. There hadn’t even been a whisper of her anywhere in the galaxy, and Cham had begun to fear –

It didn’t matter anymore. Hera was here, away from the Empire and safe.

Cham took a last look at his wife and daughter, then touched the control for the door and stepped out into the corridor. At this hour, the already half-empty Forlorn Hope was practically deserted; Cham didn’t see anyone else in the hallways as he made his way down to the medbay.

Themarsa and Ooleya were waiting for him, both of them looking tired. “The kid’s in a bacta tank,” Themarsa said before Cham could ask. “We’ll take him out in the morning.”

“He’ll be all right?”

Themarsa nodded. “Whoever hurt him wasn’t trying to do any permanent damage, though the arm could have been bad if we hadn’t gotten to him when we did. I had to rebreak it,” he added, grimacing. “From what I’ve read, Force-users heal very quickly; the bone had already started to knit. But it should heal without any complications now.”

“Did he wake up?”

Themarsa shook his head. “But he’s on a lot of drugs right now,” he added helpfully.

Cham turned towards Ooleya, who had been the one to give Hera her medical checkup.

“She’s fine,” Ooleya said immediately. “There’s nothing wrong with her except for a few bruises. She wasn’t beaten, she wasn’t tortured, she wasn’t injured in any way. There’s also no evidence of old injuries from when she was captured; she told me that she wasn’t mistreated when she was in prison.”

“Except for being in prison, of course,” Themarsa pointed out.

“Except for that.” Ooleya took a sip of the caf she was holding. “Otherwise she’s in perfect health.”

“What about –” Cham hesitated, not entirely sure how to ask the question.

“She’s not pregnant,” Ooleya said, which made Cham blink at her; it wasn’t a possibility he had even thought to consider. “And she says she wasn’t raped.”

Cham nodded, relieved to hear it; he knew only too well what often happened to pretty Twi’lek girls under the Empire. “What about trackers, anything like that?”

“Nothing,” Themarsa said. “They’re both clean.”

“Good.” Cham ran a hand over his face, the exhaustion of the day’s events finally beginning to catch up with him. “Then I’m going back to my family for the night. Let me know if anything changes with the boy. And get some rest yourself, Them.”

His cousin nodded. He clasped a hand on Cham’s shoulder briefly, then drew him into a rough hug. “Today was a good day, Cham,” he said softly. “A good day.”

“I won’t argue that.” Cham gripped his shoulder in return, then nodded to Ooleya, who smiled back.

He left the two doctors in the medbay and returned to the Residency, his footsteps echoing hollowly in the empty hallways. Cham hesitated outside his own door, then went a little further down the corridor to Alecto’s, slipping inside as quietly as he could. The lights were off, but he could see Hera still curled up on the bed, Alecto sitting up beside her and looking down at her with startled delight. She glanced up as Cham came in.

Without prompting, she straightened up and went into the stateroom’s other room, which was supposed to be the bedroom but which Alecto used as a workroom. Cham followed her inside, drawing the curtain back over the door for a little privacy.

“Well?” she said softly.

“Ooleya says that Hera is fine,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “She hasn’t been beaten, tortured, or otherwise mistreated, except for what happened last night.”

“What about when she was in prison?”

Cham shook his head. “Whatever happened there didn’t leave marks. Ooleya says that Hera told her that she wasn’t hurt, but there’s no way to verify that because it was four years ago.”

“I trust Hera,” Alecto said slowly. “What about her friend?”

“He’s still in a bacta tank, but Themarsa says he’ll recover.” Cham rubbed a hand over his face, trying to think if there was anything else he had to do or say.

Alecto put a hand on his arm. “Come back to bed, Cham,” she said. “Our child’s here. Anything else can wait until morning.”

Hera saw Kanan through the window of his room in the medbay, sitting on the side of the hospital bed and talking to Themarsa. Bacta had faded his fresh bruises to greenish yellow, but his broken arm was splinted and strapped to his chest. He still looked as though he had been beaten within an inch of his life, but as if it had happened a week ago instead of yesterday.

He’s all right, Hera thought, a little stunned; she hadn’t really expected him to be, not after all those hours he had spent unconscious in her lap yesterday. But except for the arm, she had seen him looking worse after cantina brawls or the pit fights he occasionally fought in when he needed the money.

Her hands were shaking a little as she reached for the door control. Kanan and Themarsa both looked up as the door slid open, then Kanan got to his feet as Hera flung herself inside. He caught her one-handed as Hera threw her arms around his neck, though she was careful to avoid his bad arm.

He kissed her warmly, then drew back enough to murmur, “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Hera kissed him again. “How are you? Are you – are you going to be all right?”

“I’m fine. Better than fine.” He glanced over her head, then shifted so that he could draw her against his side. “General Syndulla. I understand I have you to thank for the fact I’m still alive, sir.”

Cham came forward with Alecto just behind him. “My daughter tells me you saved her life, master Jedi.”

Kanan flinched a little. “I’m not a master.” He looked down at Hera, his expression nearly shy, and added, “She wouldn’t even have been in danger if it wasn’t for me.”

“I’d still be in the Academy if it wasn’t for you,” Hera pointed out. “Hating everyone there.” She took a deep breath, then added belatedly, “Kanan, these are my parents, Cham and Alecto Syndulla. Mama, Daddy – this is Kanan Jarrus.”

“Sir,” Kanan said, sounding wary. “Ma’am.”

Hera tucked her hand into his. It was obvious that Kanan was at least a little frightened, for which Hera couldn’t blame him after what had happened yesterday. But she had never seen him afraid before, and she didn’t like seeing it now.

Her mother smiled encouragingly at them both. “We can speak later,” she said. “Thank you for helping bring my daughter home.”

“It was all Hera,” Kanan said. “I didn’t do anything.”

Hera nudged him. “You were there.”

Alecto caught Cham’s hand and drew him towards the door as Themarsa followed them. “We’ll come back,” she said.

The door shut behind them. Hera turned to hug Kanan again, then to kiss him, more slowly and carefully this time than she had before. They sat down on the bed, Hera looping her arms around Kanan’s neck for another kiss.

“I don’t think I’ve said thank you yet,” Kanan said eventually. “For getting me – for getting us both – away from him.”

Hera kissed him again. “You’re welcome, love.” She hesitated, then asked, “Do you – remember what happened? You hit your head pretty badly.”

“I remember.” He went quiet, his gaze unfocused.

Hera swallowed. “He – hurt you.”

Kanan looked down at his splinted arm and said, “Yeah, I know.”

“Did he want something from you?” Hera had to ask. “Or did he just – did he just want to hurt you? Because you’re a –” Kanan’s lightsaber and the holocron he had grabbed when the detonator had gone off were sitting on the table by the bed, and she couldn’t help looking at them. It was easier getting her head around it than she had thought it would be, but she had had a long time to think about it in the long dark hours of the night.

He hesitated before answering. “He wanted to hurt me. But he wanted – he wanted something else too.”

“What?” When he didn’t respond, she added, “Kanan, my family is here. If he’s going to come after you –”

Her father had been running from the Empire for a long time, but an Inquisitor was something else entirely.

“Me.” Kanan’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

“I don’t understand,” Hera said after a moment. “He wanted to kill you? Because you’re a Jedi?”

He shook his head. “He would have if he had to – I wasn’t the first that he’d found – but he wanted an…apprentice.”

Hera almost said, Would that have been so bad? He wouldn’t have had to hurt you then, but she saw the horror on Kanan’s face. If the Inquisitor would hurt Kanan in the field – and he had, far beyond what would have been necessary to take him prisoner – then he would have done so in private as well.

Just because it had happened to Hera didn’t mean it should have happened to Kanan as well.

“That’s why he didn’t kill me,” Kanan said quietly. “He could have if he had wanted to; I’m out of practice and he’s better than me anyway. But he wanted me alive.”

Hera hugged him again, turning her face against the curve of his shoulder. “Are you angry I brought you here?” she asked. “I didn’t know what to do – I didn’t know what else I could do.”

“I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t. Or worse.” He drew back enough to look at her, his gaze serious. “I know how much it cost you to come to your family.”

Hera shrugged, uneasy. “I thought…there were some things I thought about my parents, but they’re not true. My mother – Agent Beneke lied to me. I found that out.”

It hurt to think about, because she had thought that Agent Beneke would never lie to her. She had been so certain of that.

“I’m sorry,” Kanan said gently.

Hera plucked at the knee of her trousers. “Maybe it’s a good thing, since I’m here now and not there. I just…I spent four years thinking my mother had left me behind. And she didn’t. She wasn’t even on the same planet.” She bit her lip. “I’ve wanted my mother so much for so long, but I thought she didn’t want me anymore.”

Kanan drew her against him, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“She didn’t leave me,” Hera whispered. “My mother didn’t leave me.”

#runaway au tag #cut scenes and concept writing #as always comments are appreciated #especially because it's been a bad brainweasel couple of days

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tarisilmarwen · 7 years

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“Through Imperial Eyes” liveblog

*muffled screeching*

Mmmmmfffmmmmmm oh Force I am not prepared for this.

I SWEAR TO X’HAL IF THRAWN HURTS EZRA AT ALL IN THIS EPISODE--

Anyway, here we go.

Ah yes, here’s the preview clip we saw last week.

Kallus does not look like he’s been sleeping well.

Hi Lyste!

Escaping shuttle... wiiiiith Ezra on board?

Oh gosh this looks like it’s leading up to the clip from the midseason trailer it IS EZRA OH FORCE PLEASE BE OKAY BLUEBERRY.

Heh. Blueberry has gotten better at his acting.

Lol Kallus’ subtle little, “Welp.” expression.

Cue titlecard? Cue titlecard.

Aaaaaare Kanan and Rex the troopers?

I see Ezra has left his lightsaber at home. Only armed with the blaster today.

AP AND CHOPPER SQUEEEEEEEEE!

STOP BEING ROUGH WITH EZRA YOU WHORES!

*muffled worried noises*

“I’ll interrogate him myself.”

Lol, I’ll bet as soon as the troopers are gone Kallus is gonna be all, “WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE BOY?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH DANGER YOU ARE PUTTING YOURSELF ME IN?! DOES KANAN KNOW YOU’RE HERE? ANSWER ME DAMMIT!”

Aaaand he turns off the cameras of course.

“Most troopers don’t even know what I look like now.”

Translation: I hit puberty.

Kallus does not comprehend people caring about him enough to stage a rescue for him aaaah I love it.

“Well I guess I have no CHOICE now.” LOL nope.

Can this continue the whole episode? Just... the Ghost crew being all like, “We gotta get you outta here.” and Kallus being all, “I WAS WORKING DAMMIT! I WAS VERY HIGHLY INVESTED AND INVOLVED IN THIS ESPIONAGE THING. CAN’T I STAY A LITTLE LONGER? I GOT MORE SHIT TO DO.”

And the Ghost crew responding like, “Nope, too dangerous, we’re pulling you. Whether you like it or not.”

Ezra still not 100% on board with trusting him, but gonna do his best anyway.

“To show the Grand Admiral how effective I am in dealing with the rebel threat.” Oh no oh no SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

DO NOT TAKE EZRA TO THRAWN. OH FORCE.

Thrawn 100% knows who Ezra is. This is going to end very badly.

Even Ezra’s getting these quick little flashes of “Oh crap.”

NNHHNNFFNNNMMM please be okay blueberry.

Camera focus on the helmet?

*hears snippets of Thrawn’s theme*

*remembers that Thrawn had hold of it in the trailer*

*genre-savvy starts working overtime*

CRAPSICKLES DON’T TELL ME THRAWN RECOGNIZES SABINE’S HANDIWORK WHEN HE SEES IT.

Mfffffmmffffffffffffffffff-

*STRESSING*

Ezra pls be okay.

(Also, hang on, they left his original binders there? Did the trooper put new ones on him or...?)

(...It looks like he’s got new ones on. Okay.)

I SAW THAT LITTLE SMILE THERE, EZRA.

“incident with the Princess” HA HA HA.

POKER FACE... POKER FACE... POKER FACE... “I’m sure you will, Lieutenant.” Very diplomatic and underhanded way of Kallus telling Lyste that he’s screwed there, lol.

Aaaaah, here’s Kanan and Rex.

...Holy crap they let Ezra go in alone?!

Chopper and AP do not count.

THIS IS NOT THE CADET SCHOOL BACK ON LOTHAL YOU GUYS, THIS IS CONSIDERABLY MORE DANGEROUS.

Aww, Kanan!

WORRIED SPACEDAD IS WORRIED.

Aaaand of course the return of the “Let’s plan on the plan changing and wing it.” running gag.

Now taking bets on it completely not being a coincidence that Thrawn showed up the day the Rebels were going to extract Kallus.

First the factory on Lothal and now this.

The man is either telepathic, ridiculously genre-savvy and good at predicting them, or he knows literally everything already and is just toying with them.

Nnf.

This stress is gonna murder me, yikes.

Ohboy. There’s Titus... and the commander from “Ghosts of Geonosis”.

...This is another Tarkin-showing-up-to-dress-down-everyone-and-then-murder-some-incompetents meeting... isn’t it?

Show... can... can you like... not stress me out so much right now?

Please?

*checks time*

I AM NOT EVEN SIX MINUTES IN??!!???

HOW???

(Side note, I am learning all sorts of interesting things about Imperial procedures today. Sweet!)

Hello Thrawn. Still creepy I see.

Hi Konstantine. I’m gonna put about $10 down on you getting murdered for incompetence today.

Just to cover my bases.

I see that painting of Lothal back there, which means there’s a high probability of Thrawn shooting that blaster as in the trailer clip in this room in this episode.

Gotta hand it to Kallus. It takes balls to keep a perfectly stoic poker face up in front of Thrawn.

Okay so I think Thrawn already suspects that Kallus is Fulcrum, but he’s not making a move until he’s confirmed it, hence the pretense of a witch hunt.

Or... he totally does know and is playing off Kallus’s reactions and the Rebels’ attempts to free him to finally pinpoint their base?

Aaaaaaand here’s the map.

This is a ploy. This is totally a ploy. He is deliberately showing Kallus the map so that Kallus HAS to let the rebels know, so they HAVE to try to delete it so they reveal themselves and---FHNFNNNNNFFF.

*CONTINUED STRESSING*

This... this knowing that Thrawn has some kind of long game plan in mind but not knowing what that is or how much he already knows and what the endgame is is just AWFUL.

Like, he was creepy enough with the utter stoic calm he displays in all situations.

But add in a crapton of uncertainty over whether or not he can see right through your plans and strategies and just nfsalfknaslfknafnnn.

Please tell me he’s like this in Heir to the Empire too, someone tell me I’m not the only one.

As Kallus and Yularen are talking I am starting to suspect that... maybe Kallus is using Ezra’s tower to transmit?

That would make sense. Would explain that clip in the trailer.

Ohhhh SHIT AND PRYCE IS HERE TOO.

Sure, let’s just have one big happy Imperial family I HATE THIS I HATE EVERYTHING.

*dread*

Heh. Kallus pulled a fast one and switched out the code tubes.

Is he gonna frame Lyste as Fulcrum?

Hang on here, let me reach the halfway point and then check on my laundry.

Okay back.

Thrawn has the kalikori, lovely.

IT WAS A PLOY, I CALLED IT.

*Yularen starts talking about the shuttle theft*

No. No no no no no no no NO.

THRAWN IS GONNA WANDER ON DOWN TO HAVE A TALK WITH EZRA ISN’T HE?

DO NOT. HURT EZRA.

Thrawn I swear if you hurt Ezra...

Lol Kallus overrides AP and Chopper’s bickering by turning off the cameras and freeing Ezra.

LOLOLOLOL KALLUS’S EXASPERATED, “PLEASE STOP THAT.” @ Ezra hiding on the ceiling.

Ezra bby. <3

Blueberry still having a hard time trusting Kallus. Don’t blame him. After Senator Trayvis and Hondo and Maul it’s a wonder the boy has any trust left.

I love all this espionage. It’s great.

“I liked being a bounty hunter better.” Aww Ezra.

Precious pouty bb.

Aaaaaaand now I am really certain Kallus is gonna let Lyste take the fall for being Fulcrum.

Nice knowing you, Lyste.

You are 100% dead.

Might be a good idea to delete the WHOLE list. Not just Atollon.

Buy guys some more time.

Awww, Ezra wanted to take Hera’s kalikori back!

Add another planet as a decoy okay I did not think of that one. Kallus is infinitely better at this espionage thing than I am.

I bet Thrawn has photographic memory though. So nice try.

“Oh. Wait. I can’t. He’s at the door.”

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

Dammit dammit dammit oh gosh.

Well I guess now we’ll see where Kallus’s loyalties truly lie.

*BITES NAILS*

NNNGGGGGFFFFFFFF.

*hates this*

*hates everything*

*checks time*

HOW AM I ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES IN???!!

Kallus turned on the sentries, nice.

And disabled the override code. Cool, cool.

RUN EZRA RUN!

Heh. Nice nod to Kanan’s blindness there.

Hi Pryce. Please stop blocking Ezra and Kallus’s escape route kthanks.

SHIT!

SHITSHITSHITSHITALSFKAHNSFLKJ PRYCE ISN’T WEAKMINDED ENOUGH FOR THE MIND TRICK KANAN NOOOOOOO!

Well I hope that one blogger who was overinvested in Pryce being as competent and smart as Thrawn is happy now.

Cripes that was still an awful post.

Yep. Lyste is 100% dead now. Not sure how I feel about Kallus framing him. It’s not exactly nice.

Then again, Kallus isn’t really one of the nicest people. Imperial or Rebel, he is ruthlessly effective.

Aaaaaaand Kallus is still gonna stay and continue his work as Fulcrum. DAMMIT KALLUS YOU PUT ME THROUGH ALL THAT STRESS FOR NOTHING YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD.

Ow ow ow ow my heart.

Kallus betraying Lyste.

Aaaaaand Thrawn knows anyway, doesn’t he?

AND THERE’S THE HELMET AND THRAWN IS GONNA KNOW IT’S SABINE’S ART SON OF A BITCH.

SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTCCCCH.

I KNEW IT. I KNEW THAT THRAWN ALREADY KNEW.

DAMMIT KALLUS YOU SHOULD’VE GONE WITH EZRA!

MMMMMNNNNNFF--

I HATE EVERYTHING.

Oh gosh, that was so stressful. SO STRESSFUL.

I hate everything.

#star wars #star wars rebels #spoilers #STRESS #LOTS OF STRESS #liveblog

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